Anne Bayefsky

Anne Bayefesky is a Canadian human rights law scholar whose work often appears in right-wing publications including the Weekly Standard and the National Review. A staunch proponent of Israel, Bayefsky was featured in a 2009 documentary entitled The Case for Israel -- Democracy's Outpost, based on Alan Dershowitz's book, The Case for Israel.[1] In 2006 Bayefsky called for an "alternative to the United Nations," an organization which Bayefsky has dedicated most of her career to criticizing. In its place Bayefsky called for the creation of the "United Democratic Nations," a "international organization of democracies, by democracies, and for democracies."[2] According to Steve Clemons, Bayefsky's alternative to the UN would be a front group which would "advance American priorities and thus run the United Nations, an institution they view as an obstacle to the unilateral exercise of power, out of business."[3]

Contents

Positions on Israel-related Matters

In May 2010 ex-CIA officer Philip Giraldi named Bayefsky as one among a list of "prominent foreigners" who promote Israeli interests as synonymous with American interests in the US.[4]

In June 2010 Bayefsky argued that the Obama Administration abandoned "Israel to UN Feeding Frenzy" when it didn't express direct support for Israel's killing of 9 activists (including one American-Turk) on board the Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla, the Mavi Marmara."[5]

Bayefsky is an outspoken critic on the UN's position on Israel and Middle East-focused US Foreign Policy initiatives, claiming that Israel is unfairly targeted for committing human rights abuses by the UN and that the UN stands in the way of the Bush Administration's "War on Terror." According to Bayefsky:

Of the top ten countries of human rights concern to the U.N. in 2005, Israel was first and America was 10th. Iran was 18th. The human rights actions statistics for 2006 are even starker. So far Israel is first and America is 3rd — of all 192 countries on earth. Human rights are the watchword of our time. They have become the rallying cry both for the forces of good and of evil. What does the U.N. campaign to demonize America and its democratic allies do for winning the war? It provides sustenance for our foes and sows confusion among our friends.

Time and again the United Nations has stood opposed to America's attempts to ensure a decent world order, for itself, and for others.[2]

Bayefsky was a vehement critic of the Goldstone Report, arguing at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in 2009 that:

The Goldstone mission will go down in history as the 21st century's equivalent to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion - a notorious work of fiction which spun a conspiratorial web of deceit and distortion that has fueled hatred of Jews ever since. At its core, the Goldstone Report repeats the ancient blood libel against the Jewish people - the allegation of bloodthirsty Jews intent on butchering the innocent.[6]

Position on Cordoba House Initiative

In 2010 Bayefsky published an article on the right-wing website, Pajamas Media, where she attempted to establish an "Iranian connection" to the proposed Cordoba Center in New York City.[7] According to Eli Clifton, "Implied in her article — in which she concludes ominously, “The unanswered questions keep mounting,” — is that the Cordoba Initiative, acting as an Iranian agent, is seeking to bring U.S. enemies — as Bayefsky would no doubt label Iranians — on to the “hallowed ground” of the World Trade Center site."[7]